//------------------------------// // Sisterly Love // Story: The Golden Armor Part II: Lost chapters // by Comet Burst //------------------------------// Autumn trotted through the well traveled tunnel, humming to herself. Her tear-stained cardigan had been replaced with a fresh one and the soft fabric felt wonderful as it rubbed against her neck and shoulders. Most ponies found it strange she wore them, but Autumn was mostly too lost in her own world to care. Things in her life had propelled from good to amazing in a single morning, starting with the news that her beloved niece had a little one brewing in her belly to the now affirmed trip to Canterlot, a place she had dreamed about visiting for years. While she trotted, Autumn barely noticed the stern looks from the large guards that lined the branching hallways. Each one was pretty imposing, some sporting scars of unknown origins in odd places, like their eyes and where normal pony cutie marks would be. They were armed with an assortment of older and crude looking spears, most of them rusted and there were even a few that appeared to be made from stone. Autumn glanced over them and repressed a snort as she passed by one, wondering if they really thought that this much security was needed. A cold stare met her and she glanced away, hoping that he did not decide to stop her. After passing through a couple more hallways, Autumn turned to enter the one that led to her sister when the tip of a spear came down, blocking her advance. "Where do you think you're going?" The guard asked in a gritty voice, reminding Autumn of the time she had tried to grind sugar in a pastel. "Oh please," she responded, knocking the spear away and rolling her eyes, "you've seen me come by at least fifteen times since the last guard rotation." The spear snapped back to its original position and a low growl came from the guard. "Perhaps you didn't hear me. Where are you going?" "To see my sister! Duh!" Autumn shouted, annoyed by this security garbage. Every single guard who had ever protected this hallway had let her pass without any problems after the twelfth time she had visited, but there was an occasional crackdown on them to make sure the guards did their jobs. A sly grin cracked his face before he made a motion to Autumn, indicating for her to come closer. "Prove it." He said. His eyes took a quick pass over her to areas that made Autumn scowl back, ready to hit him for what he was insinuating. "You know I'm old enough to be your mother, right?" She snapped back. "In fact, I probably know her." The stallion's grin only became more malicious as she spoke. "You're also old enough to be a mother. And, if you are a sister to one of them, that means you're fertile as well. Right?" He whispered as he leaned in closer to Autumn while she inched back, a disgusted look on her face. "If you show me that you're her sister, I'll let you pass whenever you want." His grin was cut off when a hoof struck him hard in the cheek, causing his vision to black out for a second. He spun in place, yowling in pain, while Autumn stood wide-eyed, watching a figure appear from behind him. A larger, more muscular stallion glared down at him with crystal blue eyes while the smaller guard attempted to rise to his hooves, swinging his spear in Autumn's general direction. She yelped and ducked as the weapon sailed over her head with a definitive 'whoosh', placing her hooves over her mane to protect herself. The guard yelped again as the sounds of a fight started to echo around the walls, ending just as quickly as they started. Autumn risked peeking up to see the larger stallion pressing a hoof onto the back of the guard's head, pinning him in place effortlessly. A nasty scowl covered her savior's face, accentuated by pointy green tattoo on the right side of his face, forming what looked like a dragon on his cheek. The guard tried to say something, but the bigger stallion spoke first. "You disgust me, whelp." He spoke in a voice that sounded like steel against rocks. "I have half the mind to paralyze you right now." "Get your blasted hoof off of me! I am a commander of the Guard for the Council!" The smaller one shouted. "So am I, moron." The bigger one growled, "And I heard all of that little banter you gave her as well as your attempt on her life. Apologize before we go speak to one of the council members." The younger guard let out a throaty growl as he tried to pry himself loose, but the bigger one pressed harder. "Now." "Get the buck off me, you idiot! I am a commander!" The smaller one yelled. "And I can make sure you apologize one way or another." A sharp snapping noise caused the stallion to cry out in pain while the bigger one's face hardened further. Autumn cringed and turned away, her stomach clenching. She tried to leave for her sister's den, but only managed two steps. Halt!" The bigger guard shouted, causing Autumn to freeze. She turned around, worried about her own safety. The bigger guard eyed her, but stayed rooted on top of the younger stallion. "If this fool is too weak to apologize, then I will for him. Please disregard what he did and proceed." Autumn gulped heavily and nodded, spinning and almost running through the passageway while the sounds of more angry banter echoed behind. She sped through the few twists in the tunnel before stopping and gasping for air. "I told you that it takes a full eleven months for the foal to develop." came a mare's voice. "Coming by to see me every three weeks will not make it grow faster." Autumn's head snapped up as she registered those words. The voice was so intimately familiar, yet alien to her. The source of the voice was a navy blue bat pony mare laying with her back to Autumn, resting on a tattered mattress of feathers and straw. Her wings hung from her back in a limp manner, twitching slightly and perfectly in sync with the sounds of her labored breathing. Her mane and tail were made up of stringy clumps of hair that sported silver lines interwoven into them. "Okay, look," she spoke. "I know it's a big deal that you're going to be a parent, but you don't need to worry about me. I've given birth to plenty of foals and I am aware of what signs to pay attention for. So far, I can tell your foal is healthy and strong since it kicks slightly. It should be quite an athlete when it's born." Autumn's mouth opened and closed twice as she tried to work something out, but she felt herself unable to say anything. The silence took its toll and the mare leaned back, her tired golden eyes glancing over to Autumn. Her hoof rested on her bulging belly which bore long stretch marks clearly visible from underneath her fur. "Autumn?" she asked. "Hi sis!" Autumn said with a wide smile and a wave. Her sister responded with a snort and flopped her head back onto the beaten pillow it was previously resting on. "What do you want?" she asked, derision in her tone. Autumn snorted as the smile fell from her face like a brick. "Clearly it wasn't to come and see my only sister." she replied. "You only come and see me when you want to talk about Angel. Tell me, why else would you come by? Did Harvest finally work up the courage to dump me after what I've put him through?" Autumn gulped hard and ground her teeth, itching to give her a tongue-lashing for her attitude. Instead of doing so, however, she trotted up to the bed and sat down next to it, putting on her best smile as her sister made an attempt to ignore her. "Oh, come on, Moony. You used to love it when I came by for a visit." Her sister snorted in response. "Why do you insist on calling me that? Call me by my real name, please." she said. Autumn sighed dramatically before answering. "Fine, Moondrop. You want me to talk to you like mom did?" "I want you to talk to me like an adult. We're not fillies anymore if you can't tell." Autumn rolled her eyes. "Since when did you become so grumpy?" Moondrop shot a small glare over to Autumn before she spoke. "Since I entered my third trimester and the foal began kicking my stomach every two hours." Autumn lifted a hoof and tried to place it on Moondrop's belly, but it was swatted away before any contact could be made. She withdrew her hoof and placed it on her own belly, looking down at it with a curious expression. "I always wondered what a kicking foal would feel like. It must be magical." "Yeah, until it kicks you awake every two hours and forces you to regurgitate the last thing you ate." Moondrop scoffed. "I thought you liked being a mother." Autumn said. Moondrop threw her another pointed glare. "Don't act like you couldn't have been one too." Autumn looked away towards the ceiling, her anger starting to get the better of her. Moondrop was in the insufferable state of blatant irritation that came with pregnancy, something Autumn was happy she had never experienced. "If you're going to be like this, then we're not going to talk for five minutes until you calm down." "Fine by me. I was nearly asleep when you came barging in." Moondrop replied. Autumn turned to her sister, completely bewildered. "What the buck made you this mad, Moondrop? Whatever it was, don't take it out on me!" Moondrop's head rose from the pillow, an acidic stare coming from her haggard eyes. "I said you only talk to me whenever Angel is involved. Spit it out. What has she done this time? Did Gus throw her off the train platform again? Did she go windsurfing and break her wing again? What could she have possibly done to herself to make you want to tell me all about it?" "Sheesh, you act like it's a bad thing that I keep you informed on what your first daughter is doing! It's not like you're there to see it yourself!" Autumn bit back, immediately regretting what she said. "My daughter hasn't seen me in over six years, Autumn, and the last time didn't go so well because she walked in on Harvest bawling his eyes out like a little foal." "Because you tried to convince Harvest to stop checking on you! He still loves you, Moondrop, even if you don't love him anymore!" Moondrop's legs wiggled as she forced her body upright, rising to the same eye level as Autumn. "Don't you dare accuse me of not loving Harvest, Autumn! You're just jealous because he picked me over you and stuck with me when I left!" A twinge shot through Autumn's chest as she glared back at Moondrop, her teeth starting to bare. "You broke Harvest's heart and still trample on the pieces to this day! It was your actions that made Angel hate you! You broke your family to make yourself feel important and I've been there cleaning up the mess you made, just like when we were in school!" "I did what had to be done because you were too chicken to do it!" Moondrop shouted back, a fire burning in her eyes. "I tore my family apart so you didn't get dragged off and forced to do this for the rest of your life! I paid for your mistake and you still have the nerve to act like everything is my fault! Why don't you go tell Angel the real reason I left instead of filling her head with lies?" Autumn had to resist the urge to hit Moondrop across the face for that comment. "I didn't need you protecting me!" "And what would you have done? If it wasn't for you, I would've stayed home and been a real mother to Angel and a good wife to Harvest! Instead, I have to sit back here while somepony's foal kicks me awake every night and do nothing but think about why I shouldn't wring your neck for what you did to me!" Moondrop made a motion to rise to her hooves, but her left front hoof slipped out underneath her weight. Without any support, she fell forward and slammed her chin into the ground, along with part of her belly. A shrill cry rang out in the room and Moondrop flailed around in frustration, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. Autumn watched the scene with morbid interest, wanting to help her sister up but also thinking this was justified to go on for a few minutes. Eventually, Moondrop managed to get back on her hooves, though they still shook as if they would collapse at any moment. By now, a trail of tears wove down her face while she tried to snarl at Autumn. "Get out of here. I don't ever want to see you here again." she whispered. "Why?" Autumn asked. "What did I do to you to make you hate me this much?" "You took everything from me!" Moondrop shouted in return. "You took my family, my happiness, my daughter and now my husband!" Autumn's eyes widened as she heard the hurt in Moondrop's voice. "I didn't take anything from you, Moony!" "Yes, you did! Everything in my life was perfect and you were jealous! That's why you tricked me into doing this for you! I had everything you wanted and you couldn't stand it, so you signed up for this and backed out so I would take your place!" "I, no. Moony, you got it all wrong!" "I have it perfectly! When Harvest picked me, you wanted a way to get him back! That's why you signed up to become a matron for the colony! To tell him you were fertile and grab his attention! Then when I had Angel, you were so jealous that you came to me, crying your eyes out about them taking you away so I would volunteer for your sake!" Autumn stood in stunned silence as she stared at Moondrop, unsure of what to say in response. Their past was always something they avoided at all costs when they met, especially since it was painful for either one to remember it. Moondrop had a wild interpretation of how events played out during that time, but she was wrong. Autumn wasn't jealous of what Moondrop had. She was happy that Moondrop had a family and a stallion who loved her, even if that stallion was one she had tried to win over before he had ever seen Moony. Angel herself had nothing to do with what happened at the time either, no matter how badly Autumn said she wanted her own foal. She was far too cute and adorable to be a point of contention between the two of them. Right? Clearing her throat, Autumn stood a little taller as Moondrop gingerly lowered herself back onto her mattress. "Moony, I don't know what made you feel this way about me, but I never once thought about taking anything from you. You're my sister, the only pony who has been there for me whenever I needed one. What happened back then is over with and long forgotten." "Just go, Autumn." Moondrop replied, closing her eyes firmly. "We have nothing to discuss anymore. I need to get some sleep now that the foal stopped kicking." "Moony, please don't put us on bad terms. I've done everything I could to keep Angel and Harvest happy for you and told them how much you love and care for them. Harvest knows that more than anypony alive and Angel... she needs some time. In fact, I came here to tell you some wonderful news! She returned to the colony not too long ago a---" "Stop, Autumn. I really need some sleep before the foal is ready." "But I didn't tell you the best part!" "Whatever it is, it can wait." "But you don't!" "Autumn, leave now before I call for a guard to escort you out." "But!" "Now!" Lowering her head, Autumn turned and trotted to the cave entrance, glancing back at Moondrop before heaving a large sigh. "What happened to you, Moony?" she whispered before leaving the den. Back at the mattress, Moondrop sniffled to herself as angry thoughts whirled around in her head. It wasn't fair what Autumn did to her, no matter how hard she tried to suppress her anger. Autumn stole everything from her and lived her life while she suffered through labor pains, sickness and being a mother many times over only to watch her foals be taken from her and given to ungrateful young couples. It hurt more and more every time she held the newborn for a few minutes when the doctor tapped her on the shoulder, indicating it was time to give up the beautiful little baby. The most fond memory she had of them was holding her first foal, Angel, close to herself and nuzzling her while humming a soft tune. As her tears wet her pillow, Moondrop could only think of apologies to Angel as images of her as a foal popped up in her mind. Cute scenes from when she was a baby learning to walk and her taking oversized bites of oranges pervaded her thoughts, making her reach up and rub her belly again. This was going to be the last foal that would be taken away from her. Of that, anypony could count on.